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Click Here For More News Links, Photos and a Re-Broadcast of the Commissioning Ceremony The USS North Carolina was Commissioned today at Wilmington, NC. Linda Bowman, who sponsored the submarine and christened it in April 2007, sent the crew running from the back of the audience onto the submarine. "You are a team and ready to go forth and defend this country," Bowman told the crew. "My hope is that she will sail in peace to keep us free. My assurance is that she will always be ready to defend that freedom whenever necessary. "Officers and crew of the...

Story Number: NNS080131-05 WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Donald C. Winter announced Jan. 30 the names of three Virginia class submarines -- the Missouri, California and Mississippi. The selection of Missouri honors the continuous support of the military by the people of the "Show Me State," and its leaders. Designated SSN 780, Missouri is the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state. The last Missouri (BB 63), a U.S. Navy battleship, saw action in World War II, Korean War and the 1991 Gulf War. Missouri was also the...

The Navy debuted its newest nuclear-powered submarine Friday in an Atlantic Ocean swing off the Florida coast, the second in the latest fast-attack class that marks a broad departure from the Cold War-era deterrence boats. The Texas, which will officially earn a "USS" designator in a commissioning ceremony in two weeks, weighs 7,800 tons, measures 377 feet long and can remain submerged on covert surveillance up to three months. It travels faster than 25 knots underwater and dives farther than 800 feet. "It's much more effective than any ship I've been on before," said Capt. John Litherland, who has been...

One of Germany's crack new fuel-cell-powered submarines has set a world record with a two-week-long dive, the German Navy said Wednesday. The trip by the U212A-class sub with a crew of 27 from Eckernfoerde in Germany to Rota in Spain involved the longest period that any non-nuclear vessel had ever spent under water. The navy did not say what the previous record had been. US and Russian nuclear submarines can stay under water for longer. Germany, which has no nuclear weapons and no nuclear-powered ships, developed the high-tech hybrid-powered submarines to replace diesel-electric vessels that need to surface more often...

The Navy's submarine force is in trouble. A shrinking number of boats is struggling to meet steady demand from regional commanders. Meanwhile, the cost of the only U.S. submarine currently in production, the super-high-tech Virginia-class attack boat, has risen to $2.3 billion apiece. At that price, the Navy can afford to buy only one per year. Do the math: since attack boats last only 30 years, building one boat per year means your fleet is eventually going to shrink to 30 boats from the current 55. Long-range plans call for 48 attack subs, so how is the Navy going to...

Found a link to this one on Subsim.com. The launch of SSN 775, nuclear attack submarine USS Texas, only the second Virginia class sub. She's a big one! Video Website

Northrop Grumman Newport News celebrated its first submarine christening in nearly a decade when Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States and the ship’s sponsor, broke a bottle of American-made sparkling wine across the hull of the Virginia-class submarine Texas (SSN 775). Also pictured is U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Tom Schievelbein, Northrop Grumman Newport News president. Photo by Chris Oxley, Northrop Grumman Newport News

First of Virginia-class submarines passes sea trial cleanly Friday July 30, 2004 By DIANE SCARPONI Associated Press Writer GROTON, Conn. (AP) The first of the Virginia class of submarines returned from sea trials Friday with a simple straw broom perched atop the world's most advanced nuclear attack submarine. The broom signified that the Virginia had made a ``clean sweep'' of the first round of sea trials meeting or exceeding the U.S. Navy's expectations for performance of its propulsion and diving systems, emergency nuclear shutdowns and other tests. ``This sea trial was an absolute success, a clean sweep, as we say...

NEWPORT NEWS -- First lady Laura Bush will christen the shipyard's newest submarine July 31 at a morning event on the banks of the James River, Northrop Grumman Newport News said Monday. The Texas, known as SSN (submersible ship nuclear) 775, is the second boat in the Virginia class, a new group of nuclear-powered attack submarines that eventually could consist of 30 ships. That boat is the first of the class to be getting its christening in Newport News. During the traditional event, which celebrates the official naming of the submarine as the Texas, Lone Star State native Laura...

Newport News, Va. -- Nov. 7, 2003 -- Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) Newport News held a ceremony today to commemorate the pressure hull completion for the Virginia-class submarine Texas (SSN 775). The ceremony marked the completion of the submarine's final hull welds, making the entire pressure hull a single unit. It is the last major construction milestone before the Texas is christened next summer.Many of the 2,000 Newport News employees who are building the Virginia-class submarines attended the ceremony and lunch in appreciation for achieving this milestone. Representatives from Northrop Grumman Newport News, General Dynamics Electric Boat and the U.S....

The US Navy’s new Virginia-class guided missile sub (SSGN) is experiencing simultaneous technological praise and cost criticism. Being built to be the Navy’s first 21st century attack submarine and a specialist in littoral warfare support, it will replace the older Los Angeles-class boats. The construction contract for the first four Virginia-class submarines was awarded on September 30, 1998, to Electric Boat Corporation, with Newport News Shipbuilding serving as the major subcontractor. In July, RADM John Butler, the Navy's program executive officer for submarines, gave an interview in which he said the Navy is investigating a novel modular system that could...

  No. 594-03 IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 14, 2003 Navy Christens Newest Attack Submarine Virginia      The U.S. Navy will christen Virginia, lead ship of the latest class of attack submarines, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2003, during an 11 a.m. EDT ceremony at Electric Boat in Groton, Conn.      Sen. George Allen of Virginia will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Lynda Johnson Robb, wife of former Sen. Charles Robb of Virginia and the daughter of 36th President Lyndon Baines Johnson, will serve as ship’s sponsor.      The ceremony will be highlighted in the time-honored Navy tradition when Robb christens the ship...